Readings
Reading I: Daniel 12:1-3 |
Preaching TipPastoring by Preaching
Nobody knows our parish flock like we do. The pastor is present at the best moments and the worst moments of their lives. We know the confidential secrets of our people, we hear their confessions, and we counsel, advise, encourage, and sometimes correct our flock.
Because of the nuances of each parish, our preaching is going to be adapted to the needs of each church community. What we preach to one parish or group may not be the best message for another group.
The theme of today’s reflection deals with the end of time and eschatological questions. A pastor may need to take one of two approaches.
· If your parish has some members who struggle with scrupulosity and/or members who are very devoted to “end times” prophecies, we may need to tone down some of the “end of world” rhetoric. In this case, we present the mercy of God more than the justice of God.
· If your parish is very laid back and a bit too comfortable, perhaps a more clear reminder of our own mortality and the need to be ready is in order.
In short, the balance is being kept because of the pastor who has the pulse of the parish. Our preaching therefore can’t ever be routine. A homily that works well in one parish may not be suited for another. Keeping our hand on the pulse of the community and adapting our preaching to their needs is a hidden and sacrificial way of loving and caring for our flock.
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B To 33
HASTA EL FIN DEL MUNDO
Al hombre le inquietan los resultados finales: de una competencia deportiva, de un año escolar, de un negocio en el que apuesta todo, del fin del mundo. La primera comunidad cristiana creía cercana la segunda venida de Cristo como gran inquisidor. Hoy la liturgia mira al final de la vida y lo que ocurrirá después, con una clara recomendación: estar preparados. Serán tiempos difíciles: “para algunos el veredicto será de salvación, para otros de condenación”.
Hermanas y hermanos:
1. Encontrarnos de golpe frente al riesgo, al misterio o a un mundo desconocido, provoca una mezcla de temor y de esperanza. Nos ocurre cuando vislumbramos la inminencia de la muerte. La muerte no es el fin de la vida. No vivimos para morir, como a veces sentencian sesudos filósofos, sino que vivimos y morimos para vivir en plenitud, como sugiere la fe y sostiene la esperanza.
Jesucristo nos habla hoy del fin del mundo y del juicio final. El Señor llegará como juez. A la luz de esta verdad podemos hacer frente a la existencia humana de dos maneras: la del seguidor de Cristo que renuncia a todo a cambio de vivir amando sin medida; y la del que vive disfrutando el placer del momento presente como si no hubiera nada después de la muerte.
2. A la luz de la fe el final del mundo es el triunfo de la vida sobre la muerte. ¿Qué va a ser de nosotros? ¿En qué van a terminar nuestros esfuerzos, nuestras luchas, nuestras aspiraciones? Alguien se atrevió a afirmar que la vida del hombre es un breve paréntesis entre dos nadas, pero si lo que nos espera es la nada ¿Qué sentido último pueden tener todas nuestras luchas, nuestros esfuerzos y enfrentamientos.
Si lo vemos a la luz de la fe se enciende un rayo de esperanza. Así la vida, la historia y el mundo no son una pasión inútil, no estamos atrapados, ni uncidos a la noria del eterno retorno. Hay salvación.
3. ¿Cuándo ocurrirá todo esto? La revelación nos habla de un evento inminente, que “está ya a las puertas”. Puede ocurrir de un momento a otro. El tiempo es breve. El fin del mundo no es su destrucción sino su destino. A la luz del evento final, todos los valores de la vida aparecen en su justa dimensión. Miremos con valentía este destino que nos espera y entendamos en qué sentido es inminente. Decidimos nuestro futuro cada día, por eso debemos prepararnos desde ahora. ¿Cuándo será ese final? Cuando nosotros queramos, cuando nosotros estemos dispuestos a hacerlo realidad, cuando nosotros vivamos al estilo de Jesús, según las bienaventuranzas.
Hermanos: Del evangelio de hoy tenemos que quedarnos con la invitación a caminar según el Evangelio, apoyados en la palabra salvadora de Jesucristo, sin pretender conocer días ni horas. La llamada actual es la llamada a la fidelidad; como los primeros cristianos estamos llamados a ser fieles en horas de persecución, y la plenitud llegará, pero llegará cuando el Padre quiera.
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD
Final results can leave us all anxious, for example: competitive sports, the end of a school year, a business enterprise in which all is waged, and the end of the world. The first Christian community believed that the second coming of Christ was close, and that He would come as the great inquisitor. Today's liturgy looks at the end of life and to what will occur later, with a clear recommendation: to be prepared. The end times will be difficult times: "For some, the verdict will be that of salvation, but for others - it will be condemnation".
Sisters and brothers:
1. When we suddenly find ourselves in difficult times, due to the mysterious or to the unknown, these times may provoke in us a mixture of fear and hope. This occurs to us when we glimpse the imminence of death. Death is not the end of life. We do not live to die, as at times the philosophers sentence us; but we live and die so as to live in fullness, as our faith implies and as hope manifests.
Jesus speaks to us today about the end of the world and of our final judgment. The Lord will come as a judge. In light of this truth, we can face our human existence in two ways: that of the follower of Christ that renounces all - in order to live a love without measure; or we may choose to live life enjoying all the pleasures of the present time - as if there was nothing to follow after death.
2. In light of faith, the end of the world is the triumph of life over death. So what will happen to us? How will our life's efforts end, our struggles, our aspirations? Someone dared to affirm that - life is just a brief parentheses between two nothings, if all we expect from life is nothing. So what final meaning do all our struggles, our efforts, and our confrontations make?
If we see all in the light of faith, then a ray of hope will ignite. Thus life, history and our world - are not just a useless passion; we are not trapped, nor are we yoked to an endless well where an eternal repayment is due. There is salvation.
3. When will this all occur? Revelation speaks to us of an imminent event, that "is already at the door". It could occur at any moment. For time is brief. The end of the world is not its destruction, but its destiny. In light of the final event, all the values of life appear in their just dimension. We look with bravery at this destiny that expects us and we understand how it is imminent. We decide our future every day, that is why we should prepare ourselves as of now. When will that end be? When we want it to come, when we are ready and willing to make it a reality, when we live as Jesus taught us, in accordance with the beatitudes.
Brothers and sisters: From today’s Gospel, we must retain in us - the invitation to walk according to the Gospel, supported in the saving Word of Jesus Christ, without seeking to know the day, nor the hour. Our actual call – is a call to faithfulness; like the first Christians, we are called to be faithful in the hour of persecution, and then the fullness will come, but it will come when Our Father wills it.